Electronic components sales sentiment continues to exhibit improvement in the month of September reaching 118.2 points — the fourth straight month of index scores solidly above 100, according to the Electronic Component Sales Trends (ECST) survey from the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA).
A score of above 100 represents growth in the ECIA report.
While the score was slightly below the outlook of the previous month, it was still a 5 point improvement.
The main driver of growth during the month was the electromechancial sector that jumped from 115.0 to 130.3. Passives also improved slightly by 2.2 points. Semiconductors, however, fell again in September to 105.9 points but still over the 100-point threshold.
The outlook for October shows all three of these component categories converging at around 118.3 points. Only 1.5 points separate the Passive index forecast at 119.1 on the high end and semiconductors at 117.6 points on the low end, ECIA said.
End market falls
End markets fell from August to September from 117.5 to 110.9. However, ECIA said the strength of the overall end-market score is solid as every category came in above 100 points.
The October outlook, except for consumer electronics, is expected to deliver above 100 points as well. Consumer electronics is expected to have a strong improvement in October to reach 93.8 points, ECIA said.
Other categories that will improve in October include:
- Industrial electronics
- Medical electronics
- Avionics/military/space
Comparing last year
ECIA started measuring sale sentiment compared to the same month in the prior year. The results show strong month-over-month growth.
The year-over-year overall index score for electronic components and end markets average over 140 between June and September, which was a strong year-over-year sentiment.
One concerning area
Manufacturers continue to report very low sales sentiment. It began in July and has extended through the October forecast measuring 17.5 points below average compared to manufacturer representatives and distributors.
Additionally, semiconductors and resistors had a negative sales sentiment reported by manufacturers. The negative perspective from manufacturers holds true for the end-markets as well with an outlook of a drop below 100 points in October.
ECIA said the reason could be direct sales are performing significantly below channel sales for manufacturers in recent months.
About the ECIA ECST report
The ECST survey provides highly valuable and detailed visibility on industry expectations in the near-term through the monthly and quarterly surveys. This “immediate” perspective is helpful to participants up and down the electronics components supply chain. In the long-term, ECIA shares in the optimism for the future as the continued introduction and market adoption of exciting innovative technologies should motivate both corporate and consumer demand for next-generation products over the long term.
The complete ECIA ECST report is delivered to all ECIA members as well as others who participate in the survey. All participants in the electronics components supply chain are invited and encouraged to participate in the report so they can see the highly valuable insights provided by the ECST report.
The monthly and quarterly ECST reports present data in detailed tables and figures with multiple perspectives and covering current sales expectations, sales outlooks, product cancellations, product decommits and product lead times. The data is presented at a detailed level for six major electronic component categories, six semiconductor subcategories and eight end markets. Also, survey results are segmented by aggregated responses from manufacturers, distributors and manufacturer representatives.
Interested in reading the entire ECST report? Click here for more information.
